Bit-stock



N. SPOPFORD.

(No Model.)

B it Stock.

No. 231,730. Pate nted Feb. 15, um.

I WITNESSES UNrrED STATES PATEN error-i;

NELSON SPOFFORD, OF HAVERH'ILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

BIT-STOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 237,780, dated February 15, 1881.

Application filed December 13, last. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, NELsoN SPOFFORD, of Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bit-Stocks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in bit-braces. Heretofore bit-braces have been made wholly of malleable cast-iron, as shown and described in Letters Patent No. 225,7 68, granted to me March 23, 1880; and although such construction of bit-braces constituted a great advance on the prior state of the art, yet certain objectionable features attend the m anufacture of the malleable iron braces. Such braces, when taken from the annealing-furnace, are more or less twisted and bent out of true, and require the expenditure of considerable time and skilled labor in imparting to them the necessary shape. Again, in order that the wood handle shall fit and revolve easily on the handle portion of the brace, the latter is required to be placed in a lathe and turned and the shoulders faced up. Also, the wood handles are required to be made in two parts and fastened together after having been applied to the brace. Further, malleable-iron castings are very rough and require considerable grinding on emery wheels and belts to tit them for polishing and nickel-plating. All these different processes in the manipulation of malleable-iron castings for bit-braces materially enhance the cost of their manufacture.

The object of this invention is to obviate the defects and objection able features 11 ereinbefore referred to, and provide a bit-brace of that type having wooden handles and heads, which shall be simple and durable in its construction and adapted to be produced at a small initial cost and with these ends in view my invention consists, first, in a bit-brace consisting of a divided arm and expanding socket, made of cast metal, and the other or handle portion, made of wire, the lower end of the straight portion of the handle being secured to the end of the divided socket.

My invention further consists in a bit-brace consisting of a divided arm and expanding socket, made of a single piece of cast metal, in combination with the handle portion, made of wire, and the lower end of its straight portion secured to the end of the divided arm, and a solid wood handle placed upon the straight portion of the wire.

My im ention further consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will hereinafter be described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is aview, in perspective, of a bit-brace embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view, partlyin plan and partly in section, of the same.

Arcpresents the expanding socket and slitted arm of my improved bit-brace. This part is made of a single malleable-iron casting in the manner set forth in Letters Patent No. 225,768, granted to me March 23, 1880, and hence adetailed description of the process resorted to in its construction and manufacture is not necessary in this patent.

B is the body or handle portion of the brace, and is made of wire which comes from the drawplates perfectly polished, and can be furnished at much less cost than a 1n alleable-iron casting of the same shape and weight. The wire is sufficiently malleable to allow of its being bent into the proper shape while cold, and yet it is sufficiently rigid to withstand all needed and ordinary pressure to which the brace may be subjected. One end of the wire portion of the braceis furnish ed With a tapering screw-thread, which fits a correspondingly-tapered screwthreaded socket in the cast-metal jaw, so that the two, parts may be firmly screwed together.

Orepresents the wood handle,which is made solid and slipped upon the handle portion of the wire before the latter is secured to the castmetal jaw and expanding socket.

By means of this construction of bit-brace I am enabled to dispense with any turning or facing the shoulders of the handle portion of the bit-brace in a lathe, and am also enabled to use solid wood handles instead of the split or two-part handles.

The threaded end of the wire portion may be cylindrical instead of being made tapering, if so desired, and the slitted arm and expanding socket may be made of cast-steel, cast-iron, or of malleable-iron castings.

It is evident that many slight changes in details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction of parts shown and described; but

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Abit-brace consistingofadivided arm and expanding socket, made of cast metal, and the other or handle portion made of wire, the lower end of the straight portion of the handle being secured to the end of the divided arm, substantially as set forth.

2. A bit-brace consisting of a divided arm and expanding socket, made of a single piece of cast metal, in combination with the handle portion, made of wire, and the lower end of its straight portion secured to the end of the divided arm, and a solid wood handle placed upon the straight portion of the wire, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of December, 1880.

NELSON SPOFFORD. 

